Doughnut making machine



June 10,1941. D, A m 2,244,854

DOUGHNUT MAKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet l 3 17229.1 I I I 20 I I I 4 I O O F p fi\ June 10, 1941. A SANDIN 2,244,854

DOUGHNUI MAKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 5, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 10, 1941. b, A, A DI 2,244,854

nouennuw MAKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 5, 19:59 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 l39 0.9122 DavzdA. 60120 110 Jun eIO, 1941. ANDIN 2,244,854

DOUGHNUT MAKING MACHINE David J9. Sandi/2,

Patented June 10, 1941 UNITED STATES i fiiTEis-T OFFICE DOUGHNUT MAKING. MACHINE David A. Sandin, St. Paul, Minn.

Application September 5, 1939, Serial No. 293,313

5 Claims. ((31. 167-14) My invention relates to improvements in automatic doughnut-making machines, and has as an important object to increase the capacity of such machines without increasing the over-all dimensions thereof. More particularly stated, it may be said that the invention pertains to doughnut-making machines of the well known type wherein dough from a suitable source, such as a supply tank or reservoir, is fed into a body ofheated grease or oil such, for example, as lard or vegetable cooking compound, through a plurality of dough dispensing and forming devices.

With respect to the above noted objective, to wit, that of increasing the capacity of the machine, it may be said that whereas certain machines now commercially available on the market and having only two laterally spaced dispensing and forming devices may, by means of the present invention, have their capacity increased at least 50% by utilizing the instant invention which, as will hereinafter be seen, permits the use of at least one additional dispensing and forming device.

Another important object and advantage of the invention is the provision of a greatly irnproved operating and adjusting mechanism for the plurality of dispensing and forming devices, which mechanism is more positive in action than the previous mechanisms employed in similar machines, permits finer and more accurate adindefinitely. Furthermore, this improved mechanism is of very simple and inexpensive character.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved distributing manifold from a common dough supply source or tank to the plurality of at least three doughnut dispensing and forming devices.

The above and numerous other important objects will be made apparent from the following specification, claims and drawings;

In the accompanying drawings like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view with some parts broken away and some parts shown in section, of the dough dispensing and forming end of a doughnut machine embodying the invention;

Fig, 2 is a fragmentary perspective view looking rearwardly into the interior of the machine;

3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view with some parts broken away and some parts sectioned, looking from the rear toward the front of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3 looking downwardly;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating part ofthe rock shaft and clutch assembly;

Fig. '7 is a detail sectional view taken on the line ll of Fig. 5, some parts on the section line being shown in full;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 58 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a detail view partly in section and partly in full taken on the irregular line 9-9 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view showing one of the several dispensing and forming devices illustrated similarly to Fig. 3 but with the parts in dough dispensing and forming position as distinguished with the inoperative closed position shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view intended merely to illustrate the driving connections for the rock shaft.

My invention is herein illustrated in connec tion with a machine which, for the most part, is conventional in character and commercially available, and certain of the old and well known parts of the machine will first be described.

In the drawings the main body or framework of the machine is indicated as an entirety by the numeral it. This body or framework is a form to afford a hot fluid reservoir which is filled to a predetermined level with oil or grease 11 that be assumed to be maintained heated to a suitable temperature in accordance with conventional practice. This hot grease reservoir is indicated by the numeral l6.

Since the present invention deals primarily with the mechanism for dispensing and forming the dough preliminary to the cooking or frying operation, the mechanism for handling the dough after it is fed into the hot fluid has only been briefly indicated and will be only briefly described. It may be noted, however, that in accordance with conventional practice, there is provided within the fluid reservoir 5 a laterally spaced pair of endless conveyer chains H, which are extended longitudinally of the machine in parallel relation, and are connected at longitudinally spaced points by transverse flights I8.

The upper portions of the endless chains I! travel forwardly close to the top of the liquid y, and the flights it, between the upper forwardly portions of the chain, project just slightly above and slightly below the level of the liquid 1 The flights are spaced apart distances slightly greater than the maximum diameters of doughnuts in their finally cooked condition, and even in standard commercial machines hitherto produced which had only two laterally spaced doughnut dispensing and forming devices, the space between the chains I? was suflicient to accommodate three doughnuts in laterally spaced relation.

The flights l 8 form in the surface of the liquid longitudinally spaced doughnut-receiving sections, the most rearwardly located of which is directly beneath the laterally spaced plurality of doughnut-forming and dispensing devices, each indicated as an entirety by l9.

Located above the several dispensing and forming devices I9 is a supply tank or reservoir 2!! of conventional character. This storage tank or reservoir is adapted to contain a body of fluid dough which, in accordance with conventional practice, is fed to the dispensing and forming devices under gravity, or a combination of gravity and air pressure, through a distributing manifold indicated as an entirety by 2!. At this point it may be said that whereas the storage tank and dispensing and forming tubes are in themselves conventional in character, the dis-- tributing manifold 2|, while having an outward appearance very similar to the conventionally used manifold or manifolds, is built to incorporate a novel design resulting in a high degree of uniformity of distribution of the dough to a plurality of at least three laterally spaced dispensing and forming devices. This feature of the manifold will be clearly described later on. As will be evidenced from the drawings, however, the manifold terminates at its upper end in a vertically disposed cylindrical flange 22, in which is telescopically applied a tubular discharge neck 23. For conveniently but positively detachably locking the tank 29 to the manifold, wing-equipped lock bolts 24 are screwthreaded into manifold bosses 25, and seated in an annular groove 2% in the discharge neck 23.

The manifold 2! is internally formed to aiford a central vertically disposed discharge passage 21' and outer discharge passages 23, which latter are outwardly and downwardly divergent with respect to the central discharge passage 21. Of course, the several discharge passages 21 and 28 all communicate with the supply tank or reservoir 20 through the discharge neck 25 and the upper interior portion of the manifold and, as will be seen, by reference particularly to Fig. 3, passages 2! and 28 are laterally lined, laterally spaced, and all open through the bottom of the manifold 2! in a common vertical plane. The manifold 21 is provided at its lower edge with a flange-like mounting base or plate 29, the ends of which are normally seated on laterally spaced brackets 39. These brackets 33 are illustrated as being rigidly secured to the flat deck 3! of the main body I 5 of the machine in the same manner as in certain commercial machines.

For detachably securing the manifold 2i to the mounting brackets, there are provided wing nutequipped anchoring bolts 3!. These bolts 3! are pivotally mounted in bifurcated portions of the brackets 36 at 32 so that they may be swung into and out of lateral notches 33 in the base plate 23 when the wing nuts 39 are loose.

Communicating with each of the manifold passages 21 and 28 is a radially flanged coupling tube 34. The lower end of each of the coupling tubes is externally threaded, and the upper end of each coupling tube i snugly telescopically fitted into the discharge end of its respective manifold passage 27 or 28. These tubular couplings 343 are anchored to the base of the manifold by means of screws or the like 35 passed through radial flanges 39 of the tubular couplings and into the bottom of the manifold.

The several dispensing and forming devices 59, which as previously indicated are conventional in character, comprise a fixed dispensing tube 31, the upper end of which is internally screw-threaded to receive the external screw threads of the tubular couplings 3 3, a valving sleeve 33 telescopically applied on and extending normally below the lower edge of the dispensing tube 37, and. a rigid valve disc that is rigidly supported from the tube 3? by means of an anchoring stem Ail and anchoring webs ll. To facilitate application of the dispensing tubes 1 from their respective couplings ti l, the enlarged internally threaded upper end portions of said dispensing tubes are provided with circumferentially spaced recesses 42 for accommodation of a suitable spanner wrench, or the like. The internal diameters of the several dispensing tubes 37 are alike and are, as a matter of fact, preferably the same diameters as the bores in the coupling flanges 34.

The valving sleeves 33 are freely axially slidabie on the dispensing tubes .i'i and are moved axially under operating conditions from normal valve closed positions shown in Fig. 3 to retracted valve open positions shown in Fig. 10. It will be noted that the valving discs 39 are spaced a material distance from the ends of the dispensing tubes 3? and are of diameters approyimately the same as the external diameters of ,the dispensing tube By reference to Figs. 3 and 10, it will be seen that the valving sleeves 38, in their lower valve closed positions, project slightly over the valve disc 39 so as to close off the fiow of dough from the dispensing tubes 31, but in their upper valve open positions the valving sleeves 38 are spaced materially from the valving discs 39 so as to provide an annular discharge passage therebetween and the peripheral edges of the valving discs for the annular discharge of dough.

All of the parts of the machine thus far described, with the exception of the construction and arrangement of the passages 2'! and 28 in the manifold 21 and the embodiment of at least three laterally spaced dispensing and. forming devices iii, are old. The novelty in this applica tion, over and above the provision of the novel manifold and arrangement of the several dispensing devices, is believed to reside chiefly in the mechanism for operating the valving discs in unison and adjusting one with respect to the other and which mechanism will immediately be described.

This mechanism for operating the several dispensing devices in unison includes a horizontally disposed two-part rock shaft comprising axially aligned sections 44 and 45. These shaft sections 44 and 45 are free to rotate one with respect to the other but are butted one against the other, and the section 44 is provided with a reduced diameter pilot 46 that works in a receiving bore in the adjoining end of the section 45. The shaft section 45 is rotatively mounted near its opposite end portions in bearing lugs 41, and 48. The shaft section 44 is rotatively mounted and supported in a bearing lug 49 that is formed at its bottom in common with the bearing lug or bracket 48.

For providing driving engagement between the shaft sections 44 and 45 there is provided, between the bearings 48 and 49, a dog clutch 50, which clutch. comprises a clutch element 5| fixedly mounted on the shaft section 45, and a cooperating clutch element in the nature of a shipper collar 52, axially slidably mounted on the shaft section 44. The shipper collar 52 is maintained in rotary driving engagement with the shaft section 44 by means of a key and keyway 53. The shipper collar 52 is provided with dogs 54 that are adapted to be received in correspondingly shaped notches or recesses 55 in the clutch element 5|. The clutch element 5| is locked to the shaft section 44 by means of an allen set screw 56. For convenient manipulation of the shipper collar 52, there is provided an intermediately pivoted control lever 51. control lever 5'! is intermediately pivoted at 58 and its inner end portion is bifurcated and provided with opposed pin-like projections 59 that work in the peripheral groove 60 of the shipper collar.

For oscillating the several valving sleeves 38 in unison from the rock shaft section 45, there are provided three like cranks 6|. Each of these cranks 6| is provided at one end with a tubular bearing sleeve 62 that is mounted on the shaft section 45, and the free end portion of each crank 6| is bifurcated to receive the enlarged upper end 63 of a different valving sleeve 38. Each of the cranks 5| operatively engage its re spective valving sleeves 38 by means of an oppositely disposed pair of pin-like projections 84 that work in an annular peripheral groove or channel 65 in the enlarged upper end 63 of its valving sleeve 38.

For driving each of the cranks 5| from the shaft section 45 and for maintaining the several cranks in proper axial adjustment on the shaft section 45, each crank is provided with a radially projecting flange 66 that is adapted to be rotatively anchored to a similarly shaped flange 61 that is mounted on and maintained in driving engagement with the shaft section 45. The flanges 51 are each formed with a tubular mounting sleeve 68 that is rotatively locked to the shaft section 45 by an allen screw 59.

For adjustably anchoring the crank flanges 66 to the flanges 6?, there are provided anchoring bolts or screws Til, one for each co -operative pair of flanges 56 and 61. These look screws 10 are screw-threaded into the flanges 61 and work through circumferentially extended slots II in the flanges 66. Obviously when the screws 10 are loose, rotary individual adjustment of the cranks, with respect to the shaft section 45, will be permitted, but when the said screws 10 This are tight, the co-operating flanges 66 and 61 will be maintained in tight face to face frictional engagement, which will result in positively anchoring the cranks 6| to the shaft section 45.

For providing Vernier adjustment between the flanges E6 and 51 when the lock screws are loose, there are provided Vernier adjustment screws 12 that have knurled heads 13. These adjustment screws 12 are rotatively mounted in rearwardly projecting lugs 14 of the flanges 66 and are maintained against axial movement therein by shoulders I5 on one side and stop collar 15 on the other side of said lug E4. The lower screw-threaded ends of the adjustment screw 12 are screw-threaded into nut-acting lugs I! that are horizontally pivotally mounted and anchored in the flanges 61 at 18.

In practice it is very important that the several valving sleeves 38 be capable of very fine and accurate adjustments each with respect to the other and each with respect to its own cooperating valving disc 39. With the mechanism described this is very readily accomplished by loosening the lock screws T0 and manipulating the vernier adjustment screws 12 until each of the several dispensing and forming devices I9 simultaneously dispense dough in doughnut shape and of uniform size.

For operating the rock shaft the following described, more or less conventional, mechanism is illustrated as being employed. A tracer type cam is mounted on a suitable power drivenshaft 83. This cam 19 is a laterally opening channel 8| of irregular contour and which is engaged by the pin-equipped end 82 of a crank arm 83. The crank arm 83 is intermediately pivotally anchcred at 84, and at its opposite free end is pivotally connected to a push rod 85 which connects through a rock arm 88 to the shaft section 44 to which the said rock arm is anchored by means of a set screw 81. Preferably and as illustrated. the crank arm 83 is biased in one direction by means of a spring 38. With the cam, and operating connections shown, the cranks will be oscillated up and down once for each revolution of the cam to the extent necessary to axially slide the valving sleeves 38 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 10 and back again to the position shown in Fig. 3.

Operation rnotion usually with the clutch 59 in released position shown in Fig. 5, under which condition the shaft section 44 will be rotatively oscillated, but the shaft section 45 and cranks 6| will remain stationary. To actually start the doughnut-making operation, the shipper lever 5! will be moved to cause engagement of the clutch elements 5! and 52 which will result in oscillation of the shaft section 45 and crank 5| with the shaft section 44. 0f course, as long as the pinequipped end 62 of crank 83 is riding in the circirnferentially extended uniform radius portion of the cam channel 8|, the valving sleeves 38 will remain in overlapping relation with respect to the valve discs 33 and the flow of dough. will be positively cut off, but as the pin-equipped end 82 of crank 83 rides into the reversely curved portion of the cam channel iii, the valving sleeves 33 will be moved progressively upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 L0 the position shown in ii) and then back again to the position shown in Fig. 3. During this period when the valving sleeves 33 are moved away from their respective co-cperating valving discs 33, the dough will flow pit of the dispensing tubes 3? in annular doughnut formation and when the ,valving sleeves are moved back over the edges of the valving discs, the dough will be cut off and dropped into the hot grease. Fig. 2 the formed dough just prior to cut on and dropped is shown hanging onthe ends of the dispensing devices it and is just about to be dropped into the grease to the positions shown by dotted lines A in Fig. 2.

The dough thus dropped in doughnut form will be moved along by the flights l8 of the conveyer chains from left toward the right in respect to Figs. 1 and 2. In Figs. 1 and 2 dough nu'ts previously dispensed and being moved along in the hot grease during the cooking operation are indicated by B.

Since it is necessary to remove the reservoir 2!], manifold 2i and dispensing devices it for cleaning after each run of doughnuts is complete, the valving sleeves 38 are often dropped, or otherwise have their free end portions which cio ope'rate with the valve discs 38, damaged and, ;of,course, correction of this requires grinding oh" andtruing up of the damaged end of the valving sleeves 38. Of course, this r e-forming of the valving ends of the sleeves 38 requires compensating readjustment of the valving sleeves with respect to the rock shaft, but with the mechanism described, this is very readily accomplished, and when the new adjustment is made, the shaft elements are again positively lock-ed together so that adjustments will remain indefinitely. Not only is this mechanism described very desirable from the point of View of making adjustments and retaining adjustments, but the simplicity and compactness thereof permits, in accordance with the present illustration, three dispensing and forming devices to be placed side by side in a space previously permitting only two of such dispensing and forming devices.

Of course, the provision of more than two dispensing and forming devices It? presented a serious problem in manifold construction which was not present in the previous devices employing only two dispensing devices and in which like and vertically disposed manifold passages were provided in the manifold for the opposite dispensing devices. In the present arrangement the center manifold passage 2'! is vertical, Whereas the opposite side manifold passages 2e are at an outwardly diverging angle and are longer than the passages 21, Hence, it will be seenthat the matter of flowing a uniform amount of dough unde'r uniform pressure to the several dispensing devices !9 presented a serious problem because of the reduced effect of gnavity on the diverging passages as as compared to the passage '21 and a so due to the increased length and consequent greater friction of the passages 28 with respect to the passage 21. In the present structure this was finally overcome and a uniform delivery rate provided to the several dispensing devices l9 by making the center manifold passage 2? of uniform diameter throughout its length and makaza gcai ing the outer manifold passages 23 of progressively increasing diameter from bottom toward the top, all passages 21 and 28 being of the same diameter at their delivery ends.

What I claim isti -1. In a doughnut-making machine, a plurality of laterally spaced dough dispensing and form ing devices each including a valve element mounted for sliding movement to and from closed position, a rock shaft, a plurality of cranks rotatively mounted on said rock shaft with the free end portion of each in operative engagement with a different one of said sliding valve elements, a radially projecting flange on each of said cranks, driving flanges rigidly mounted on the rock shaft, each in face to face contact with a different one of the said crank flanges, means for effecting individual Vernier rotary adjustment of the several cranks on the shaft, said means including a Vernier adjustment screw for each co-operating pair of flanges, said screw having screw-threaded engagement with one of said flanges and being rotatively mounted on and held against axial movements in respect to the other thereof.

2. In a doughnut-making machine, a plurality of laterally spaced dough dispensing and form'- ing devices each including a valve element mounted for sliding movement to and from closed position, a rock shaft, a plurality of cranks rotatively mounted on said rock shaft with the free end portion of each in operative engagement with a different one of said sliding valve elements, a radially projecting flange on each of said cranks, driving flanges rigidly mounted on the rock shaft, each in face to face contact with a different one of the said crank flanges, means for effecting individual Vernier rotary adjustment of the several cranks on the shaft, said means including a Vernier adjustment screw for each e c-operating pair of flanges, said'screw having screw-threaded engagement with one of said flanges and being rota'tively mounted on and old against axial movements in respect to the other thereof, and a lock nut screw-'thread-edinto one of each pair of co-operating flanges and working through an arcuate slot in the other thereof.

3. In a machine of the class described, a plurality of laterally spaced reciprocating valv-ing elements, a rock shaft, a plurality of cranks rotatively mounted on said rock shaft with the free end portion of each in operativeengagement with a different one of said reciprocating valving elements, a radially projecting flange on each of said cranks, drivingfi-anges rigidly mounted on the rock shaft each in face to face engagement with a different one of said crank flanges, means for effecting individual Vernier rotary adjustment of the several cranks on the shaft, said means including a Vernier adjustment screw for each cooperating'pair of flanges, said screw having threaded engagement with one of said flanges and being rotatively mounted on and held against axial movements in respect to the other thereof. r g

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in further combination with means for positively locking the cooperating flanges together in adjusted position, said last named means comprising a head screw working through a radial slot inone of each pair of cooperating flanges and having screw threaded engagement with the other flange of each pair thereof.

5. In a doughnut-making machine, the combinatioii with a plurality of laterally spaced parallel doughnut-forming and dispensing devices, each of said dispensing and forming devices comprising a fixed, vertically disposed dispensing tube, a valvin-g disc substantially the same diameter as the exterior of the dispensing tube fixedly anchored in spaced relation to the lower free end of the dispensing tube, and a valving sleeve axially slidably mounted on the dispensing tube and adapted to be reciprocated from a position wherein it overlaps the valving disc and closes off the dispensing tube to an upward position wherein it opens the annular space between the dispensing tube and valving disc, of

means for reciprocating the said valving sleeves in unison comprising a horizontally disposed rock shaft rotatively mounted in spaced relation to said dispensing devices, a plurality of cranks rotatively mounted on the rock shaft, one in alignment with each of the said dispensing devices, each of said cranks being bifurcated at its free end to receive the valving sleeve of its cooperating dispensing device, said valving sleeves having circumferentially extended radially outwardly opening channels for receiving opposite end portions of the bifurcated cranks, said cranks each being formed with a radially projecting flange, a driving flange for each crank, said driving flanges being fixedly mounted on the shaft one in face to face contact with each of said crank flanges, means for locking the said co-operating flanges together in diflerent rotatively adjusted positions, a shaft section axially aligned with said rock shaft, means for rota tively oscillating the said shaft section, and a manually operative clutch for operatively engaging and disengaging said shaft section with said shaft.

DAVID A. SANDIN. 

